Visa on arrival paying off in Nigeria
News & Trends •
according to him the voa has facilitated ease of doing business in nigeria eliminated unnecessary human contact which can encourage corrupt practices and elimination of error in visa classification1 nigerias visa on arrival voa policy has increased the influx of tourists as well as facilitated ease of doing business in the country1 babandede made the observation in his presentation entitled encouraging tourism in nigeria role of nigeria immigration service at the fourth nigeria tourism investors forum and exhibition ntife in abuja1 ntife is an annual meeting organised by federation of tourism associations of nigeria ftan to attract relevant stakeholders and chart a way forward for the tourism sector in the country1 the theme for the two-day forum and exhibition is infrastructure and security catalysts for sustainable tourism development1 visitors and tourists now come into the country and get their visa within 48 hours and go to patronise hotels and get involved in other leisure activities1 babandede who was represented by an assistant controller general caroline adepoju said that the voa had resolved the naughty issue of having to return to ones country of residence before applying for visa1 he explained that businessmen tourists and visitors could apply for the visa from any part of the world1 mr muhammad babandede comptroller general of the nigeria immigration service cgis said on thursday the voa policy has boosted influx of tourists into the country people do visit the country now because the policy has made the acquisition of visa very simple and easy1 as a leading agency responsible for migration the importance of encouraging tourism to the nigeria immigration service cannot be over emphasised1 in other to encourage international tourism the service has taken various measures which include contributing to national security through taking seriously issues of border patrol and security1 our personnel are trained in host-manship to engender a friendly atmosphere for migrants tourists and visitors and the personnel are expected to treat people with courtesy1 the issue of multiple clearance procedures in our ports of entry has been addressed by collaboration with sister security agencies such as port health and nigeria customs1 check points along our ways from international border routes have been dismantled and our personnel have been directed to do more of border patrol because this allows for easy movement he said1 the immigration boss also urged groups government agencies and corporate orgainsations who invited persons from outside the country to always inform the service ahead of their arrival1 it will assist us to provide dedicated desks to facilitate easy and effective clearance of the invited persons at our entry points he said1